
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap. Copyright Xo. 

Shell^.C3:„3.<? 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



[DYLS TWAIN 



SONNETS 



AND 



MISCELLANEOUS POEMS 



BY 



LLOYD QOBLE 



CHICAGO 

CHARLES H, KERR & COMPANY 

1898 






COPyHIGHT, 1897, 

by 

LLOYD GOBLE 



CONTENTS. 



IDYLS TWAIN. 

Vv'here Hide the Heart's Delights? 9 

The Extravagances of a Love-sick Muse — 

Part L Cooing Doves 23 

Pari II. Cawing Crows 38 

SONNETS. 

To James Whitcomb Riley 47 

Morning 48 

Evening 49 

Dreamland 50 

Silver Clouds 51^ 

Benighted 5^ 

The Pilgrim 53 

The Gnome 54 

A Friendly Gleam 55 

A Recollection 56 

To a Calla Lily 57 

Ulla 58 

The Cherub 59 

Woodland Gloom 60 



No Sympathizng Tear 6i 

Beyond Our Ken 62 

A Shattered Oak 63 

By Still Waters 64 

Where Rest Remaineth 65 

To a Brown-coated Warbler 66 

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. 

Boys Again 69 

A Summer Blossom 72 

Along the Ambraw River y;^ 

Mundan€ and Ultramundane js 

A Rustic Sketch 76 

To an Owl 79 

Our Sowing 81 

To the Brook 82 

As We Used to Know Him 85 

And Such Is Life 87 

Coppertoes 89 

I Heard Her Sing 91 

Backward Look 93 

A Fantasy 95 

The Founding of a Kindom 102 

Downward Floating;- 103 



At Little Mary's Grave 105 

Midnight Longings for the Morrow 108 

The Amish Maiden no 

Just Let Me Rest 112 

Woods of Youth 114 

The Same Old Song 117 

Farewell 119 

Atlantis 120 

Old-Home Rest 123 

To the Ambraw 124 

New Year's Eve 128 

A Lover's Half-Hour 130 

A Morning Ramble 131 

As Bloom the Flowers 136 



IDYLS TWAIN 



WHERE HIDE THE HEART S DELIGHTS. 

"Little Pixies, cease your swinging 

In the boughs above ; 
Cease your chatter, cease your singing 

Idle songs of love. 
On those golden sunbeams straying 

Through the leaves, come down 
In a fairy circus, playing 

Acrobat and clown! 

"Tiny tumblers, trip it lightly 

On this mossy stone; 
In and out so brisk and sprightly, 

Faster, every one — 
Faster to the swell and sinking 

Of that merry tune. 
Faster yet, the muffled clinking 

Of your golden shoon!" 

'Twas 'but the childish babble of a youth 
Who, 'neath an old oak tree, gazed upward at 
9 



lo Where Hide the HearVs Delights 

The rustling canopy. The summer winds 
Blew lightly and the branches idly swayed, 
While here and there a breadth of azure showed, 
And through the rifts the sunlight downward 

poured. 
So earnestly he gazed up throug*h the leaves 
And watched the beams of light that danced and 

played 
With every motion of the swaying boughs ! 
Who dares to say, "Mine eyes have it beheld; 
'Tis thus, and thus, and there is naught beside?" 
This outer world we cannot comprehend 
Save only as the inner world is built, 
Save only as the soul hath eyes to see ; 
And this — the inmost self hath power to see 
And feel by just so much as it may live. 

And so this youth, instinct with life, saw all 
Things else alive. The brook was happy as 
It babbled on and tumbled o'er the stones: 
The leaves were merry, so they laughed and 

danced; 
The birds were filled with gladness, so they sang; 
The blossoms smiled and courtesied as he passed; 
The butterflies, like winged bloom, tiew here 
And there in zigzag caperings of glee ; 



Whei'C Hide the Hearth's Delip-hfs il 



A. 



And e'en the trees with loyal hearts of oak 
Loved his caress and kinship with him claimed. 

No sigh or whisper but it voiced some heart's 

Distress or gladness ; while the fairy world, 

Invisible to duller eyes, was to 

His subtle sense discernible; and all 

The shades, the shapes, the ghosts of things that 

are 
Or have been trooped and gamboled 'round and 

laughed, 
Or wept and told him all their w^oes that he 
Might weep and share with them their sore dis- 
tress. 
Oh, what a wonder-world of life' and light 
The childish fancy builds ! The soul finds all 
Things veiled in mystery and o'er and o'er 
Again repeats its how? and what? and why? 
And Fancy, that capricious, gladsome elf, 
Before slow-plodding Reason can reply, 
Extends her golden wand; and lo! what realms 
Of light and shadow, skies of cloud and sun! 
What seas of restless blue where simple Faith 
Can spread the sails and fear nor wreck nor storm ! 

So now let's follow our young friend awhile. 
And let him lead us w'here his foot-steps may; 



12 Where Hide the Hearfs Delights 

For though all purposeless he wanders on, 
Yet they are g-uided by an instinct that 
Finds all the haunts where hide the heart's de- 
lights. 
Down into that deep hollow now he swings 
From maple bough to bending sassafras. 
He lifts the slender ferns but does not pluck 
Them, for they would but droop and die; he 

crawls 
Through tangled brier and brake where noise- 
lessly 
The serpent glides away ; and farther down. 
Where runs the rill, he picks up smooth white 

stones, 
Whose grinding has required a thousand years — 
A-nd there, that bank of green! so velvety 
And soft! No loom of Ind could weave a web 
So fine. But see, he laughs; what can it be? 
A'h, there it is; Jack-in-the-pulpit stands 
To sternly sermonize the violets. 
Gay-bonneted and bright, who hang their heads 
Like conscience-smitten, fair, sweet, erring maids. 
He clim'bs the steep incline and scares away 
The whip-poor-will from some old moldering log 
Where she has built her nest. When fairly up 
The hill, he pauses just a moment to 



W/icrc Hide the Heart'' s Delights 13 

Drink deeply of the fragrance tliat the wind 
Has borne him. Panting still, he hurries on 
To peer through that thick bramble grown 

around 
Some giant oak, laid low, whose mighty arms 
Form trellises for clambering vines. Death stares 
Not up in unmasked ugliness, for Life 
Weaves for its veiling robes of tenderest green 
And drapes with beauty every gaping tomb. 

Before him in the path, a rattle-snake 
Lies in a hideous mottled coil. It lifts 
Its head in vengeful attitude; it stares 
With lidless eyes, and then its warning sounds. 
The youth, with beating heart wherein there lurks 
Instinctive enmity, a weapon finds. 
And stealthily draws near. He lifts to strike; 
But ere the blow descends, within his eyes 
The light of pity shines. His weapon falls 
And thus he muses: "Children of the same 
All-Father, we; what right have I to lift 
My hand 'gainst this despised, poisonous thing? 
Has man dominion but to slay? May I, 
According as it pleases, kill or spare? 
For ages, through these woods, such creatures 
have 



14 liVnyc Hide the Heart's Delights 

According to their fashion Hved and died; 
And now shall I presume to lift my hand 
And wantonly destroy the handiwork 
Of God because it daies to creep from out 
Its chill, damp den to bask here in the sun?" 
Half-fearing that 'twas but weak sentiment 
That staid his hand, revolving in his mind 
The right of man to mete out life or death, 
To hold the balance carelessly and say 
\Miich scale, according to the gravity 
Of right, moves up or down ; and fearing, too. 
The thing he chose not to destroy, he steals 
Away, while in his boyish heart springs up 
A feeling undefined, intangible, 
A s'hadow of a thought, a conscious throb 
Of that sweet harmony whose first faint notes 
Were sounded at creation's dawn to swell 
And throb and strong and yet still stronger beat 
Throughout the ever broadening noon of time. 

Scarce out of danger has our young friend gone, 

x-^nd walking thoughtful still, when suddenly 

Before his eyes a ghostly glimmer floats; 

A web of radiating bars and waves 

Of silken circles swings between two boughs. 

A tiny dragon at its center clings 



JlV/rrr Hide the Heart's Pc/io/rts 



15 



And treachere^usly waits; a sudden buzz, 
A spring, and fast in chains the gauzy wings 
Are bound! Ah, here are evidences of 
A dozen other tragedies. What wild. 
Fierce butchery with talons, teeth, and claws! 
W'hat piteous cries, torn limbs, and low, faint 

moans 
Of anguish ! Molence, gaunt, hungry wolf, 
Runs riot through fair Nature's realm, feasting 
Chi helpless innocence, and mingling snarls 
And angry bowlings with the glad sweet notes 
Of joy. Death, ever watchful of its prey; 
Death, preying on warm, unsuspecting life; 
Life, till the fatal moment, ever light 
And gay; and life abounding everywhere! 
No shaft of sunlight falling through the leaves 
But happy wings unnumbered gleam and buzz 
Until the air is resonant with joy. 
The frog-stool that the boy has plucked abounds 
With life; no leaflet of the meadow-rue 
His feet have crushed, but that small compass 

bounds 
A tiny world of gladness ; every blade 
Of grass lifts up its slender point to pierce 
The star-world of a wond'ring race below; 
No step but what must end some happiness — 



1 6 Where Hide the Heart'' s Delights 

But falls a thunder-bolt from out the heavens 
Or strews with death and terror some domain, 
A mighty earthquake in its ravages. 

The boy, filled with these thoughts and loth to do 

The slightest injury, walks carefully 

Along a few brief moments, listening to 

The low, sweet murmur of the wind, feeling 

Within his heart a quiet gladness born 

Of soothing sounds, fair hues and odorous breath. 

But suddenly a brown-thrush perched upon 

The topmost bough above him warbles sweet 

And clear its prelude. Just a moment's pause, 

And then upon the startled air it pours 

A very torrent of pellucid song. 

The youth stops for a moment listening, 

Then like a brook with smooth unruffled face 

That lightly breaks and dashes headlong o'er 

A precipice, foaming and bubbling in 

Its joy, his heart leaps up with ecstasy; 

And through the woods he rushes gaily as 

A fawn at play. Far and still farther on 

He goes, following a high ridge that leads 

Out toward the river s side. Here on a low. 

Vine-covered mound among tlie trees he lies. 

With head bent back and pillowed in the leaves. 



Where Hide the I{eart\s Deli o- his 17 

Oft has he rested here and mused about 
The little mound, inventing gruesome tales 
Of savage Hfe. Far down the river gleam? 
And sparkles in the sun. A steep rough path 
Down which he makes his way, then o'er 
A ledge of rock and he stands gazing ar 
The entrance to a cave. Darkly it yawns ; 
But 'he, with blazing torch, has often walked 
Within the cavern, watching the weird play 
Of light upon its jagged walls of stone. 
Or searching every nook and cranny for 
Some hidden specimen of savage art. 
Along the river's marge, o'er golden bars 
Of sand he strolls and spends a happy hour. 
The river bending in a graceful curve 
Where its high rocky hills have given way 
To gentle slope. He finds a winding road 
That leads up from the river through a growth 
Of willows, then through thickets of pawpaw 
And dog-wood, growing dense and dark. 

Through all 
This gloom, he hurries on half-fearful that 
Some danger lies in wait at every turn. 
But now the road emerges from the woods; 
A meadow smiles before him in the sun. 



1 8 lf7n^rc Hide fhc Heart's Hc//o///s 

How bright the sunshine is! How cocl the 

breeze! 
How sweet the busy hum among the flowers! 
No time for gloomy thoughts, but happiness! 
And every fiber of his being feels 
A quiver of delight. He throws himself 
Upon the ground and shouts aloud; the earth 
Reels in his gladness; everything around 
Him dianges as his fitful fancy wills. 
He leans upon one arm; the downy balls 
Of ripened dandelion seeds, he sees 
Transformed. \\'hat dreamy vision floats before 
His eyes, what fancy fills his fevered brain 
He tells to us in improvised rhyme. 

"I am a shepherd and these are my sheep; 

On the green hill-sides they feed all the day; 
Here I must linger and constantly keep 

Watch lest they leave me and wander away. 
Home I must lead you, and early the morn 

Shearers will clip off your fleeces of snow ; 
See how you're leaving on bramble and thorn. 

Some of you. half of your garments, I know." 

But now lie plucks a ball and bloAvs away 
The seeds. They fly away in clouds of down. 



H 7/^/7- Hide the Heart's Delio-hts 19 

The fancy changes, and yet once again 

As he begins to give it utterance. 

"Fly away, birds, on your downy white wings — 

Speed, silver arrows, from frail fairy bows 
Drawn by deft fingers with light silken strings 

Torn from the spider-web (^w the wild-rose! 
Speed, magic arrows, and up from the mould 

Where you are falling, in time shall arise 
Sweet sunny faces illumined with gold, 

Smiling so prettily up at the skies." 

In utter abandon, he sprawls out on 
The grass and, rolling swiftly down the hill. 
Spreads consternation through his bleating flocks. 
While all his clothes are covered with their wool; 
And birds in bevies, arrows in great clouds 
Fly through the air. He pauses as his feet 
Crush through a little hillock where a mouse 
Has made her nest. How nice and warm it is ; 
And sitting there with dizzy head, a look 
Intense of feigned solicitude upon 
His roguish face, he sings a lullaby: 

"Hush your crying. Baby Brownie; 
Close your eyes and rest. 



20 frAvrc Hide the Heart's Dclio-Jits 

Cradled in that soft and downy 
Meadow-mouse's nest. 

" 'Tis some idle fear that bothers 

You and makes you cry ; 
Go to sleep, your anxious mother's 

Coming by and by. 

"Is it you are fearing, Baby, 

That the meadow-mouse 
Will return and drag you, maybe. 

From her nice, warm house? 

"Go to sleep; she is not coming 

Back the livelong day — 
Hear the brown bees softly humming 

In their happy way. 

"Dream sweet dreams, O Baby Brownie. 

Brightest dreams and best, 
Sleeping in your soft and downy 

^leadow-mouse's nest!" 

But Gilbert, Gilbert, hurry ho'me; a long 
Long way you've come; wake from your day- 
dreams; see. 
The sun has scarce two hours to shine on you ; 



Where Hide the HearVs Delights 21 

Home by the nearest way, across the fields 
By yonder wood that skirts the prairie's edge — 
Ah, thirsty are you? Then, to that log house 
That stands just off your way and you may drain 
As sweet a draught from that old drinking-gourd 
That little blue-eyed Maimie's dimpled hands 
Will offer you as ever sparkled up 
Refresihingly from cup or bubbling font. 
Why do you pause? Ah, bashful, bashful boy! 
Afraid of those pink cheeks and laughing eyes! 
That little sprite in linsey-wolsey who 
Would even dare to throw her chubby arms 
About your neck and kiss your sunburnt checks! 
Who would have been so happy with you in 
Your wanderings. Then scamper off and slake 
Your thirst by drinking from the marsh, or wait 
Until you reach the old spring by your home. 

Fast sinks the sun — no lingering now, but give 
Your feet swift wings as doth become a boy 
Who is not lazy save as boyhood loves 
The tasks that are not tasks because they please. 
The chores — a dozen things — are waiting you; 
Drive home the cows and help to milk them, too, 
For soon comes dusk and supper-time and night. 



22 Where Hide the Heart'' s Delights 

How fresh and cool, the evening breeze; how 

sweet, 
The drone of beetles in the trees blent with 
The mellow tinklings of a bell; and, far 
Away, the calling of the whip-poor-wills! 
Aye, close you now your heavy-lidded eyes: 

The butterflies have gone to sleep ; 

The blossoms, folded for the night; 
Till early dawn, the crystal deep 

Shall sprinkle down her starry light. 

The sun has gone to spread a glow 

Of gladness over all the skies 
Of slumber-land Vvdiere breezes blow 

The opiate breaths of Paradise. 

Oh, dreams of boyhood bright and fair! 

Oh, deepest sleep ! and sweetest rest ! 
God's hands have smoothed with tend'rest care 

The pillow that thy cheeks have pressed ! 



THE EXTEAVAGANCE8 OF A LOVE-SICK 
MUSE. 

PART I. 

COOING DOVES. 

"Coo, gentle doves; within your bower 
Love steals and all the day beguiles — 
That elfling fair as any flower 

On which the eye of heaven smiles. 
He hears, although ye see him net, 
Your cooings in this sheltered £pot. 
Then coo, coo, yc do\es; 
Coo, ye gentle doves! 

"Ah, Love has done a gracious thing! 
With some caprice of joy new-born, 
The hour that speeds on golden wing^ 
To herald the approaching morn, 
He gave his quiver, bade her strow 
The shafts on all the earth below. 
Then coo, coo, ye doves , 
Coo, ye gentle doves! 
23 



24 The Extravagances of 

"So all the world's in love to-day — 

The forest, prairie, lilied pond, 
The river bearing far away. 

The ocean stretching- far beyond; 
And here hides Cupid naught to do 
But listen to your honeyed coo. 
Then coo, coo, ye doves; 
Coo, ye gentle doves! 

*'How pants the summer wind with love! 

How warm with passion, earth and sky ! 
And vines and branches twined above 

They nod and whisper, breathe and sigh, 
And bend to hear these doves express 
In sweetest notes their tenderness. 
Then coo, coo, ye doves; 
Coo, ye gentle doves!'' 

Sweet songs the soul sings to itself, but when 
It dares attempt to give them utterance 
The harmonies are broken. Here, a strain 
Limpid and pure, yet marred by discord ere 
'Tis half expressed — a few clear notes, a hint 
Of soul-transparency, but floating drift 
In briefest time obscures its crystal depths. 
Veiling the flash and gleam it ever strives 



a Love- Sick Muse 25 

To throw. And Gilbert Darnell, at the age 
When youth tiptoes to manhood, found his life 
Stirred to profoundest depths. It sparkled, leaped 
And bubbled through the froth in sudden spouts 
Of song. With summer's sultriness the wind 
Was freighted; fields of tasseled corn their blades 
Clashed lazily and sprinkled pollen down 
Like dust of gold; brown fields of stubble with 
Their fruitage stored in barns all ready for 
The threshing-floor shown warm; while, gazing 

through 
The woodland's ragged fringe, broad stretches of 
The prairie might be seen, with marshes pied 
And meadows newly mown. Across his path 
The ragweeds leaned wherein contentedly 
Grasshoppers sang; and in the tree-tops where 
He passed, the shrill cicadas chorused loud. 
Intense, the summer heat; but more intense. 
His nature passion-stirred. Within the cool 
And grateful shade, he stops a moment, with 
The sweat in beads upon his forehead. Not 
A sound but some responsive chord within 
His breast makes quick reply. Aye, love within 
The heart is multiform. A voice it has 
For everything without, and ears that may 
Interpret every outward thing. 'Tis life 



26 TJiC F.xl rava i^'aiiccs of 

I )i\iiRly rrowiu'd; 'lis soul surriciriu')'. 

Ihil tlicMi lliis crowniiiL;' — ^w lieu 'tis done and how? 

And whence liie fullness of this ampler self? 

What food with niaj^ie elements so mixed 

That in a daw a WH'ek, a mouth t'he dwarf 

Of childish sentiment has i;rown to its 

Majority and stands j;it;autic in 

Its passion's stature? Aye, what art occult 

J lave timid i;lances, modest looks, red lijis 

And crimson blushes to (bVine tlu> heart's 

h'ull self and conjure all the reason or 

Unreason found in Ion'c's philosophies? 

"A tin\' seed some j>assini;' wind had blown 

Into the i^arcU'u of my heart la\' loni;- 
To shine and rain iusensibU" and ^rown 

About by fraj^rant tlowers. Lost in thai throng-, 
It seemed as nothini;'; but within a \\\)^\\{ 

It sprang- u]>. and before 'twas eve i^rew tall 
.And opened \<^ the sun its boll of lii^lit, 

StauihuL;" the fairest flowt'r amon^j.;- them all. 

"lUow, la/y winds, amom;- the trct'S scarce strom;- 

hjiou^i^h to wake a melody or e'en 

A sit;h and yel by constant dalliance. 

Slow pulTs and twists and turniuj^-s to let fall 

A broken I wiij" to w liich an acorn clings. 



a Love- Sick Miisc 27 

"A worm within an acorn shell, 
A season lived I there and grew 
In deepest darkness locked nor knew 

The world was lari^er than my cell. 

"But pierced the walls — a world of love 
Shines brig-ht on my bedazzled eyes, 
Earth's glory that around me lies, 

The blue of heaven that bends above! 

"Yon butterfly that from its chrysalis 

Comes forth to spread its rainbow-colored wings. 

Rejoicing in its new-found, hig-her life 

And searching for its mate among the {lowers 

Is of love's transformation but a type. 

And there, that fairy dragon-tly that darts 

About on cpiivering wing; how airily 

It lloats and speeds away with sudden dart 

And turn, a flash of sunlig-ht vanishing! 

"Deep in the marsh's nuul and slime, 
I crawled about from day to day, 

Nor dreamed so bright and fair a clime 
Of cloud and sun above me lay. 

"lUit looking up. Love held for me 
These gauzy wings — a double pair — 



28 The Exti'avagances of 

And taught me how to dart so free 
And happy through the thin bkie air ! 

"Just as the woodman's heaps of brush along 
The clearing's edge have first the brand applied, 
A tiny blaze appearing next that grows 
And curls amid the crackling boughs until 
The whole becomes one lurid leaping flame ; 
Just as the lightning from its cloud-throne lcai)S. 
While slowly following and grumbling low 
The thunder swells with deeper rumblings as 
It rolls adown the steep incline of heaven; 
Just as the low-hung clouds grow thin, and earth 
And heaven, lighter till the sun bursts forth, 
A smile of gladness spreading o'er the hills. 
While every leaf and floweret gleams with gold — 
How like to these are love's awakenings. 

"As within an infant's eyes 
Wonder follows mild surprise, 
Gravest doubts, and changing thence 
To slow looks of confidence, 
Till all suddenly the sprite 
Wreathes and dimples with delight! 
So love bloomed in my heart. 

"As within its nest of green 



a Love- Sick Muse 2g 

Grows the rosebud all unseen 
Till its husk it opes and through 
Peeps with timid eyes of dew, 
Bolder then in brightest dress 
Blooms the queen of loveliness. 
So love bloomed in my heart. 

"Slowly wakes the fair young day, 
Slowly fade the stars away, 
Night's dark curtains now are rolled, 
Brighter gleams the sky with gold, 
Bursting, flaming from afar 
Phoebus heavenward drives his car! 
So love dawned in my heart. 

"The warm air in a tremble rises from 
The earth like spirits reaching up with palms 
Oiitspread to hold aloft the clouds which,, so 
Upborne, then melt away and once again 
Appear far off to find yet other hands 
That hold them back, until with grief at last 
They into tears dissolve and fall, to thus 
Find in their sorrow but the fullness of 
Their joy. So, laughing merrily, they run 
Down to the sea, are lifted up and once 
Again return, repeating o'er and o'er 



30 The Extravagajices of 

The round. And then this globe of green, with 

what 
FideHty it moves about the orb 
That gives it Hfe, still pleasing in its own 
Variety, its change of seasons, day 
And nig-ht. So all things speak to us of love. 
Not one poor thing but bears the mystic sign 
The 'heart can recognize; while Reason dazed 
Must wonder, ever asking, 'What is love?' 

"Love? 'Tis constancy, 'tis change. 

Love? ah, love I know full well; 
Something common, something strange — 

What is love? I cannot tell. 

"Ask me not; this love's a thing 

More than human, 'tis divine; 
Ask the bird on heavenward wing. 

Ask the sunward climbing vine. 

"x\sk the nymphs that liglitly dream 

On the star-besprinkled sod; 
Ask the mountain drifts that gleam 

Snowy summits up to God. 

''Ask the waves from some far shore 
Sweet with Love's own odorous breath; 



a Love- Sick M?ise 31 

Ask the waves that wildly roar — 
Furious waves in love with death! 

"What is love? 'tis day, 'tis night; 

Now it pleases, now it pains; 
Subtle drops of wild delight 

Running riot through my veins! 

"What is love? 'tis sweetest rest, 

Wild delirium as well, 
Seas to one small drop compressed — 

What is love? I cannot tell." 

So, lover-like, he wandered on and on 
Communing with himself and speaking out 
His passion with such fervor that to him 
It seemed he might stand unabashed before 
The world proclaiming it to all. As bold 
A.s any veteran of the chase, the young 
Hound when the quarry is afar; but when 
'Tis brought to bay and stands with antlers fixed, 
The late pursuer timidly stands by 
Or watches with much show of eagerness 
And mouthings loud that ill conceal its fear. 
And Gilbert, when he saw far off across 
The glowing fields or through some opening 
wood 



yi TJie Extravagances of 

The little cot where Maimie Cartwright lived, 

Was bold as any knight that e'er laid lance 

In rest for lady fair in days of old; 

But as he nearer drew his courage fled, 

And in its place, a perturbation such 

As only timid country swains may know. 

The day a half-score youths and maidens had 

Proposed to spend upon the river-side. 

A day upon the river! ah, what shades 

Are poured so deeply down as those that fall 

Upon the idler at the water's edge? 

What overhanging trees so thick that but 

A friendly breath of wind can find its way 

To fan the lounger as he leans beneath. 

Forgetful of all things but that sweet sense 

Of calm enjoyment. Dulcet sounds pervade 

The air — 'the splashing of a minnow as 

It leaps and falls again into the tide, 

The twitter of a swallow as it skims 

Above the silver surface, now from some 

Thick bower of branches comes the cuckoo's call, 

And all the myriad notes that blend in such 

Mellifluous harmony. The angler finds 

A nook 'mid gnarled roots of sycamore 

That overhang some pool where he may drop 



a Love- Sick Muse 33 

His line and watch it to iiis heart's content. 
And then that dreamy pastime when the Hglit 
Canoe with Hfted oar floats lazily 
O'er placid depths and shingly shallows till 
The dreamers' vision of the noonday feast 
Beneath the old elm leads them to the shore. 

Oh, 'hills of deepest green and darkest shades 
Beneath the flood of summer's purple haze! 
With all thy sheltered nooks and secret bowers 
Where youths and maidens, with their hearts 

attuned 
To all the passion-laden harmonies 
That Mother Nature sings, may spend the long. 
Long afternoon ! But now, the day far-spent. 
They lingered yet some moments in a cave 
Slow-lab'ring Time had chiseled from the hills. 
Through winding passages that broader grew 
Or narrowed to saiiall openings, they viewed 
Each quaint formation — s'hapes fantastic in 
Relief carved on the limestone walls. A sense 
Of awe crept over them for every word 
That in the air confined was uttered had 
A Titan's voice; and when they listening stood, 
Deep was the solemn stillness reigning there 
And broken only by tbe ghostly moans 



34 The Extravagances of 

And 'hollow soundings of the air that swept 
Through breathing crevix:es. But our two friends, 
These lovers twain — for Gilbert better tlian 
The others knew the cave, admiring most 
Its hidden mysteries — ^had farther strayed 
And stood forgetful of all things save that 
They waited there alone. To Gilbert, who 
Had often dreamed away an idle hour 
Within the gloom, it had become a hall 
Of fantasy. *'See through the gloom those forms 
That move about — fair dames and stately, tall 
lo queenliness, and crested chieftains in 
Their war gear clad; while palsied hands grow 

firm 
With memory's own youthfulness and wake 
From trembling strings rich harmonies that float 
About us here, enmeshing us within 
A tangle of dehght." Thus on he went. 
His childish fancies babbling, till at last, 
Remembering their companions, they sought 

once 
Again the light of day, but heard no voice 
And knew that they were left to cihose what time 
They would upon their homeward way. But now 
This joke, as jokes must often prove, was but 



a Love-Sick Muse 35 

Love's opportunity. Nor need we ask 
How in his wooing fared the love-sick youth. 

Far in the west the sun was sinking, and 

Like Httle children strayed from home, they went 

Hand clasped in hand. Care makes us aged, Joy 

Would keep us children all our lives. Unchained, 

His fancy where it listed roved. He told 

Her that so often when he walked, a nymph 

Or dryad robed in leafy draperies 

Would flit before him like a shadow, call 

Him onward beck'ning with her snowy hand. 

And now he saw the creature once again ; 

Could ^he not see? There, in the hawthorn shade ! 

'*Ah, deep within the forest green. 
With bounding step she hurries by, 

Then stops bdhind yon leafy screen 
And looks at us with roguish eye! 

"See! there she beckons; let us go; 

With step as light let's hurry on — 
As lightly as the bounding doc 

She leaps and beckons and is gone. 

"Nor througli the tangled, leafy maze. 
Can we seek out her hiding place; 



36 The Rxtravagances of 

Through all these doubtful winding ways, 
Her fleeing footsteps leave no trace. 

"But listen! Ah, my forest maid. 

Thou nymph or shadow, we can hear, 

From out thy secret, sheltering shade. 
Thy laughter rippling sweet and clear!" 

So by the nearest way they reached her home ; 
And he must stay for supper, too; nor to 
Decline their invitation had he will. 
So stayed he till the stars came out, going 
At last, treading the dewy pathway with a step 
So light he seemed to float love-crowned upon 
A sea of glittering stars. What need had he 
To hurry home? The night was beautiful. 
Why seek a pillow where his joy should war 
With sleep and smile a restless conqueror? 
The world moon-washed was radiant with de- 
light; 
There by the old decaying log whereon 
He sat the season's first fair gentians bloomed. 

"Little fringed bells of blue. 

Lift your sparkling eyes; 
Let each tiny drop of dew 

That serenely lies 



a Love- Sick Muse 37 

Softly folded upward gaze 
At the starry skies. 

"Fairy lamps that flasli and blaze, 

Fade, then faintly glow — 
Flas'h and fade — your fitful rays 

Kindly downward throw 
From the purple mists above 

On the earth bf.low. 

"Silver stars and gems of dew, 

Though you shine so bright 
From your own soft beds of blue 

All the still clear night, 
Shine there yet from soft blue eyes 

Love's diviner light." 



PART II. 

CAWING CROWS. 

"What a darkling whirlwind of clamorous crows 

Sv/eeping ana circling about on the 'hill! 
Circling and sweeping — still faster it grows, 

Slower and slower, at last it is still. 
Still but a moment — a single rude note. 

Then a hars'h, discordant wild chorus of caws! 
A torrent that gathers from every black throat, 

A flutter of wings in that thicket of haws! 

"Why do you vex me with all of that din? 

Wherever I wander, you're sure to be there. 
The brown thrush's fine-fluted notes scarce begin 

But are drowned in a deluge of turbulent air. 
The chirp of a robin, a meadow-lark's reel, 
A field-sparrow's twitter — ah, these would I 
hear 
Instead of ihis tumult; no joy can I feel 

While these sable, ill-omened crows linger 
near! 

38 



Extravagances of a Love- Sick Muse 39 

*'Then off to the wild-wood and vex me no more; 

1 crave from this torment a moment of rest; 
'Tis time you were seeking your haunts and once 
more 

Each ebon pair building a rough ragged nest. 
The south wind is blowing and warm is the sun, 

While up in the locust the oriole sings; 
But ah, my weak spirit, too feeible to rim, 

Must crawl about dragging its poor, tattered 
wings." 

Thoug^i Love is blind, that spider, Jealousy, 

Has full ten thousand eyes, and weaves her web 

That she may feast on buzzing insects caught 

Within the balmy, spiced atmosphere 

Of vermeil-hued Romance. Romance, that realm 

Of crimson-tinted foliage beneath 

Blue bending skies, a kingdo'm hke unto 

The dreams that old star-gazers oft 'have told 

About Earth's sister planet, blushing Mars. 

'Twas whispered by the gossips that a youth, 
More handsome or with larger bank account, 
Won glances from fair, mercenary eyes ; 
And Gilbert, of its truth half-conscious, found 
(Though winter's storms had come and gone, 
and all 



40 TJic Extravagances of 

The earth was smiHng once again) no joy 
In all the gladness 'round him. Everywhere 
He went, o'er soft, green hills or in the cave's 
Chill gloom, a dark foreboding haunted him. 

"What maze of sight and sound I see and hear! 

Within this dream-lit hall I stand and gaze 

And, wond'ring, view each g-hostly form that 
plays 
A constant cl'.an^;e-— the smile that to a tear 
Condenses ere it warms the heart; the dear 

Sweet form I fain would clasp in warm embrace 

Seems changed to snowy marble and her face 
So fair is cold and bids me come not near ; 
While those sweet sounds that, flung from silver 
strings. 

Spake to my soul a gracious harmony. 
Breathe only sobs and sig'hs and whisperings 

And dark forebodings dread — ^^such things as be 
In store for him whose fevered fancy brings 

His wortliless dreams in change for charity!" 

And so he found at last his rival had 
Supplanted him ; and in a roaring rage, 
He flamed up, all his injured soul on fire 
With hatred. Burning for revenge, this youth, 



a Love- Sick Mtise 41 

So sickly sentimental, looked no more 
With eyes of amVous softness, but with balls 
Of blazing fierceness. Out into the night, 
FIc walked alone and thickened all the air 
With an unchained, volcanic fullness of 
Invective. Long he walked and raged and roared, 
And faster walked as fiercer waxed his rage; 
Till finally his frenzy had passed by, 
And o'er him came a sense of helplessness. 
AMien crazed with wrath, he might have braved 
A thousand dangers; now despair had seized 
On him; fear crept into his heart; a chill, 
Gray mist had fall'n on wood and plain and he 
Was damp and cold; uncanny creatures swarmed 
About or lurked in ambush, all in league 
To do him each some dreadful injury. 

''Dip, somber wings, from out the murky air; 

Laugh, loathsome harpies, in your frenzied 
glee, 
And drown the shrieks and cries of wild despair 

With taunts and jeers and fiendish mockery! 

''Ye skulking ghouls fhat prowl the darksome 
wood, 
Fierce howling demons, at the midnight hour 



42 The Extravagaficcs of 

In vengeful struggle strew with your own blood 
The ghastly prey ye greedily devour! 

"Dark stagnant fen, where hideous reptiles gUde 
Through reed and brake all rank with poison- 
ous breath, 
And glow-worms crawl, and slimy creatures hide, 
While every wind, pest-laden, whispers, 
'Death!' 

*'Wan, sickly moon, gaze through the chill, gray 
mist. 

All ashen pale with that cold, ghostly smile; 
While here to these low-breathed words I Hst: 

'I'll claim my own — not yet; a little while!' " 

''A little while?" How long? a day? an hour? 
A moment of such torment was a hell. 
The instinct of self-preservation when 
Some outward injury is offered stayed 
His hand that would have otherwise his own 
Destruction sought. Death stood there specter- 
like. 
As grim and gaunt a phantom as e'er reached 
A ghostly hand with which to seize its prey 
And drag it 'to its loathed charnel house. 



a Love- Sick Muse 43 

"An icy hand is clutching at my heart; 
And now instead of bounding Hfe that sped 
Through vein and artery and tiny thread 

With joyous rioting and sudden dart 

And turn and phuige, I feel that chill blood start 
So tardily with each slow beat — like lead 
It creeps along till every sense seems dead 

Save that dull ache that to my farthest part 

Finds way ! My life is naug^ht but living death ! 
My quivering flesh, but dull, cold agony! 
Those rigid fingers yet more fiercely clasp 

And tug and pull! Once more my struggling 
breath 
Contends ere yielding up the victory, 
Thus ending all in one convulsive gasp!" 

But no — next morn when on his face a look 

So woe-begone, his sister saw and laughed 

At him and, with a stimulating sort 

Of sauciness, a volley fired at him 

Of most impertinent remarks, he stood 

Up straight and, with the proper stiffness, curled 

His downy lip and tossed his head and swore 

By radiant wreaths of 'holy smoke that, for 

The simpering thing, he did not care a straw. 



SONNETS. 



TO eFAMES WHITCOMB BTLEY. 

Sweet singer, as you twang the (luiv'ring strings 
Of that old harp whose tuneful melody 
Fills all our 'hearts again with boyish glee, 
Or, melting into tend'rest pathos, brings 
To mind some sweet, sad joy that closely clings 
And twines new life about our hearts, as the 
Old ivy decks wit'h green the storm-rent tree — 
Now, while you sing, the "clearer twitterings" 
In leafy depths I hear, while breezes blow 
To me the breath of clover bloom; the stream 
From its pellucid depths chants music rare 
In liquid laughter like the tinklings low 
Of fairy serenaders in a dream, 

Till, drunk with joy, I'm lost to every care. 
47 



MORNING. 

A pale, soft ^low lights up the eastern skies; 

Deep silence reigns about us everywhere; 

How fresh and pure is the cihill morning air; 
While sparkhng dew in fading moonlight lies 
Like flashing diamonds or like fairy eyes 

That laugfh at us — till suddenly the bare, 

Old, rough and rugged mountains smile in rare, 
Rich robes of rosy light. In glad surprise. 
The song-birds join in choruses of glee; 

From fair green meadows, valleys, plains and 
hills. 
We hear the mingled notes of joy and praise — 
The sober joy of Age, the ecstasy 

Of Youth when every tingling fiber thrills 
With all the gladness of our childhood days. 



EVENING. 

The sun sinks down behind the western hill; 
With pencils long of flashing light he throws 
O'er all the canvas of the sky briglit glows 

Of golden glory; far away the trill 

Of some sweet singer, fraught with all its skill 
Inborn, pours out upon the breeze that blows 
To me a flood of melody; while grows 

The evening twilight faint and fainter till 

The world is wrapped in slumber 'neath the folds 

Of night. Oh ! may, within the distant west. 

The sunset of our lives their skies adorn 

With glory no less bright than evening holds 
Above a sleeping world. So may we rest 
Till brightly dawns the everlasing morn. 
49 



DREAMLAND. 

When restful slumber gently shuts the lids, 
Like fringed curtains veiling out the light 
From our tired gaze, and dusky-mantled Night, 
The world enfolding deep in shadows, bids 
All Nature rest in calm repose, when streams 
Of liquid silver laugh in wild delight 
At Luna's image like a dancing sprite, 
The fairy goddess of the land of dreams 
Trips gaily outward through wild wooded bowers 
Where merry elves in wanton revelry 
Unite, or leads us by the hand to view 
Some mighty castle where for seeming hours 
We watdh the moonbeams paint all rosily. 
Arcades of marble mists we wander through. 
50 



SILVER CLOUDS. 

Oil, clouds of silver white, float softly by! 

Beneath the shade of this old apple tree, 

Decked out in green so gay and gorgeously. 
In discontent and lazy dreams I lie ; 
And far above, I see thee poised on high 

Like phantom ships that sail a boundless sea. 

There rocking on the unseen waves must be 
Rest for the weary spirit that would fly 
Away with thee beyond these prison walls, 

Where in God's love and sweet security 
The sunshine of his smile forever falls — 

Oh, to that glorious cloudland could I flee 
Where now a spirit voice so softly calls 

And angel hands so gently beckon me! 
SI 



BENIGHTED. 

In that thick, heavy gloom that gathered 'round 
Me as I wandered onward through the night, 
Not one faint ray could struggle throug'h to 
light 
My pathway with its friendly gleam, no sound 
To break the awful stillness, while the ground 
Began to tremble, toss, and heave with might, 
And part beneath my feet, till wild with fright 
I shrieked aloud and gave one mighty bound ; 
But looking up I saw two beaming eyes 

Wreathed with dim, smiling features softly float 
Through that dense blackness. Steadily 
on me 
They gazed; and as I stood there in suq^rise, 
The darkness vanished, while a tiny throat 
Piped soft and clear its low, sweet melody. 
52 



THE PILCtRIM. 

He paused; then sat himself upon a stone, 
And looked about upon a valley, strewn 
In wild confusion with the fragments hewn 
By the Omnipotent, building His own 
Eternal, snow-crowned pyramids. Alone 

He sat, unmoved and statue-like. High noon 
Beheld him weary, while he now must soon. 
Through shadows, grope his way. The sun had 
thrown 
A flood of glory over all the hills; 
And, bursting into flame, the western skies 
Became a holocaust that into night 
Should fade; and as a sudden splendor fills 
The heart with rapture, so his stony eye« 
Grew radiant with a celestial light. 
53 



THE CtNOME. 

Beneath a frowning ledge, beside a stream 
I stood, and heard its waters froth and foam 
Among t'he crags; then back through vauUed 
dome 
And cave-hke dungeon, watched the fitful gleam 
Of crystals flashing now a straggling beam 
Of lig^lit. There in the gloom, I saw a gnome 
Or elfish goblin stealing from his home 
And, blinking at me, sit within a seam 
That splits the granite walls. A golden crown 
With flashing gems was -on his head, and stars 
Of opal, emerald, and ruby shone 
From fairy circlets ; but a sullen frown 

His forehead darkened, and with gliastly scars, 
That visage cold seemed frozen into stone. 
54 



A FRIENDLY CtLEAM. 

I groped my way through darkness wild and 
black 
As ever sent a wanderer astray — 
No friendly moon to guide me on my way; 
No star with merry twinkle to laugh back 
My fleeting courage; but the old oaks tossed 
And clashed in blindest rage, as demons might 
When Chaos ruled o'er universal night. 
Far from my path I strayed, hopelessly lost. 
Till suddenly a ray that pierced t^he gloom 

Led me a wand'rer home. Oh! may that soul, 
That long has strayed away and deems his goal 
Can only be inevitable doom. 

Catch some stray beam that struggles through 

the night 
To kindle hope and lead his steps aright. 
55 



The son^;- t'hat loni;" ai^o I hoard hor sitij;- 

Comes tloaliiiL;- backward tlirc)iii;h the vanished 

years; 
Aiul that same smile that dnn'O the vai^Tant 
fears 
l"'ii)m t)iit m\' h(>\ ish heart, nor failed to hrin;^' 
A full-l)lo\vii idadncss, like the oi)enin;;' 

Of rose-buds in the warm jiine clays, appears 
With all its genial warmth and straightway 
eluers 
Me as in that old time a breath oi spring- 
That dri\es awa\- the winliM- ehill. .Aye. eome 
h'rom that fair land, and as in days (^f oKl 
Trii") h^vhtiy here luMieath the orehaid tree; 
Tluai rest awhile, lulled by the drowsv hum 

Of l>ees, wiiile 1 blend with thine own i)nre t;"old 
Pills weahh of roses I have plucketl for thee. 
5CI 



TO A CALLA LILY. 

Thou fair, frail ihiiii;" so sweetly blooiniiii; tlioro! 
What liappN' Km is I'hiiu' to si4 the while 
Within the «;-eiiial sunshine of the smile 
( )f her who innards tlue with her tend'i'est eare, 
W'lu) keei)s with, jealous \ii;ilanee thy fair. 
Tale heauty from sueh things as would delde 
Its innoeenec^ -her heart, as free from ij;uile 
.As thine own lowliness, elaimin;; full share 
( >f all the L^raees that tluKse forms of hi^iit 

That leather 'rcnnid the (ireat White Tin-one 
above 
Possess. (>h. who eould fail to envy thee? 
Then l»U)om th\' fairest, ribbed in purest white, 
iMublem of goodness, i^entleness, and love, 
Anil littini;' emblem of her purity. 
S7 



[JLLA. 

She stood there waiting at the market-place, 
A quaintly shapen jar upon her head, 
Then turning, with shy glance and doubtful 
tread, 
Passed down the row of stalls, her girlisli face 
With sweet timidity and just a trace 

Of mild confusion blooming there. Rose-red 
It deepened as bold youths would praise, in- 
stead 
Of merchandise, her charms and gentle grace. 
Oh ! happy swain, w' ho 'neath the olive trees 
Shall read in those soft eyes a warmer glow 
And mark upon her cheeks a rosier bloom 
While am'rous eve's own lazy, loitering breeze 
Shall idly sing of that glad overflow 

From hearts so full they scarce have beating- 
room ! 

53 



THE CHERUB. 

In that cool, sheltered nook where smiling Morn 
Beg-uiled me by her diarms and loveliness, 
A sleeping cherub lay in nature's dress 

Of dimpled beauty. Every star and horn 

And bell of bloom that grew there to adorn 
His velvet couch seemed bending to caress, 
With every breeze, his half-hid limbs and bless 

In fragrant praise the fair, the heaven-born. 

With noiseless tread, lest I should put to flight 
The vision, I drevv^ near and o'er the fair 

Form, wondering, bent; when suddenly his bright 
Eyes ope'd and lightly, as in summer air 

The dew-drop fades, he vanished from my siglit 
And left me gazing at his impress there. 
59 



WOODLAND GLOOM. 

Oh! dark and solemn depths of woodland gloom; 
In awe and reverence I wander here, 
While stealing o'er me comes a vague-like fear; 

Thy voices sound like echoes from the tomt), 

And in thy air I breathe a faint perfume 
Like that from snow-white Hlies on a bier, 
Or like the odors breathed by those who near 

The land where bright, eternal flowers bloom. 

The gentle murmuring of thy rustling leaves 
Seems but the sigh of some poor care-worn soul 
That wearily his heavy cross lays down, 

Rejoicing that the Reaper with His sheaves 
Sees fit to bind him, that the long-sought goal 
Is won and on his brow is placed a crown. 
60 



NO SYMPATHIZING TEAE. 

Our grealtest griefs are those that we alone 
Must feel, the griefs that we refuse to share 
With all the heartless horde, who only bear 
With cold indifference the heart's deep groan 
Of anguish. Dirges in an undertone 
For our departed joys we chant, yet dare 
To laug'h and hide our woes with nicest care — 
To act a part we cannot make our own. 
And smile up through our tears at all the gay 
Frivolities that only serve to bruise 

Our aching hearts. Oh ! may God's bound- 
less love 
Heal all our wounds and chase our gloom away, 
And showers of joy fall down like gentle dews 
Upon the earth from pitying skies above! 
6i 



BEYOND OUR KEN. 

We look around us on tliis little world, 

Soft, misty robed, all golden, green and fair; 
And gaze up at the moon, that through the air 
Floats like a radiant bubble gaily hurled 
Upon the 'breeze by laughing youth with curled 
And flossy hair; then outward, farther, where 
The sister planets onward roll, we s(tare 
And mark the mig'hty paths where they have 

whirled 
For countless ages 'round the mig'hty sun ; 
Still far 'beyond, we hear in limpid blue 
The untold systems o'er and o'er again 
Sing out, "Eternity has just begun!" 

We hear the surging ocean beat, but view 
One drop and know 'tis all of finite ken. 
62 



A SHATTERED OAK. 

Proud hast thou stood, nor bowed thy lofty head; 
Bo'ld and defiant, tliou hast mocked the rage 
Of e'en the wildest storm that to assuage 
Its wrath strove mightily, then onward sped 
With increased rage — from thee unconquered, 
fled. 
What tale of courage writ on History's page 
Exceeds thine own? E'en now, when stripped 
by age 
Of all thy boasted strength, decayed and dead, 
And shorn of every limb, thou standest there 
Proud in thy desolation. Soon thy lot 
Shall be as humble as when in thy prime 
It was exalted. Rent by gale to share 

The common fate, e'en then thou fallest not 
The tempest's but the victim of old Time. 
63 



BY STILL WATEES. 

Breathe low, ye reeds along the river's brim; 
And calm, clear waters, smoothly glide along, 
While far witihin thy depths a countless tlhrong 
Of noiseless shadows waver, dance, and swim 
So placidly. Oh, dove on that low limb 
That I'ghily bends, pour forth thy plaintive song 
And tell of love so deep, so pure and strong 
That every saddened heart and eyes grown dim 
With tears might be made glad; for here in these 
Deep solitudes a calm tranquility 
Dispels the tumult in our hearts until 
Its wildest raging lulls into a breeze 
As soft as fanned the Master's ^brow when He 
Had spoken to the tempest, "Peace, be still." 
64 



WHEEE REST REMAINETH. 

Dear little vale, a sense of calm, sweet rest 
Falls over me; and, lingering in thy lap, 
I hear the lusty "red-head's" dheerful rap 
Wliile chopping out of solid oak a nest; 
And fresh from flowers my steps so rudely 
pressed, 
Are odors rich and rare as e'er distilled 
By fairy chemists though most highly skilled 
In all of Flora's arts. Is he not blest 
Whose weary feet, though wandering oft astray, 
Lead 'him to lose by lingering here awhile 
In sweet forgetfulness his sore distress, 
To dream amid thy beauty's wild display, 
To nestle in the sunshine of fhy smile 
And feel the wooing of thy warm caress? 
65 



TO A BROWN-COATED WAEBLEE. 

Thou tiny form of flutt'ring melody ! 

Thou feathered fountain of inconstant song! 
No brooklet rippling noisily along 
Its fair, green valley pours forth half the glee, 
The wild abandon and the ecstasy 

That gladdens thy clear notes ; no noisy throng 
Of wild-wood warblers piping clear and strong 
Can tempt thee into boisterous rivalry. 
Deep hidden in that 'bower where friendly boughs 
Of sheltering hawthorn screen from curious 
gaze 
Thy sober mate within her downy nest — 
There twitter low thine oft-repeated vows 

And sing through all the happy s-ummer days 
The joy that's throbbing in thy little breast. 
66 



niSCELLANEOUS 
POEMS. 



BOYS AGAIN. 

O these summer afternoons! 

Let's roll up our pantaloons 
As we did in boyhood long since passed and gone; 

Long before old Father Time, 

Scowling at us, made us climb 
Homeward up Life's hill and put our shoes and 
stockings on. 

By the old pond's reedy brink, 

Where the cattle come to drink. 
Let us wait and watch them slowly wade out 
where 

All the clouds of summer skies 

Dance before their blinking eyes, 
Gazing in the water with a lazy, languid stare. 

Then ito listen to the call 
Of the snipes and frogs and all ! 
And the gabble of the wood-ducks as they glide 
In som'e narrow strait that leads 
Through the sedge-grass and the reeds 
Outward to the thicket on the water's wooded 
side. 

69 



70 J^oys Again 

Oh ! the blackbird's mellow trill, 

And the old delicious thrill ! 
As we stood in silent rapture long ago, 

Where so many joys were found 

By us truants, loafing 'round 
That old tropic tangle that our boyhood used to 
know. 

I can see the grape-vine swing 

In the shady opening, 
There among the tall old oaks that whisper low, 

Wishing you and I were there 

For a single hour to share 
All the glee that drowns them in a joyous over- 
flow. 

'Neath the old persimmon trees, 

Gently swaying in the breeze, 
S^hade and sunshine mingled like a mystic veil, 

Let us listen to the lium 

Of mosquitoes, while from some 
Covert in the thicket comes the whistle of a quail. 

O'er the sunny meadow-lands, 
With our straw hats in our hands, 
We can chase the bumble-bees that buzz and 
boom 



Boys Again 71 

'Round the flow'rs so lazily 
In their harvesting, wliile we 
Fairly drink the sweetness of the fragrant clover 
bloom. 

In the wheat-field, too, we'll hide 

Where the wavelets smoothly glide, 
As they chase each other o'er a lake of gold. 

All ithe world seems now to sing — 

Seems to us and everything 
Just as full of happiness as ever it can hold. 

Boys again! — hip! hip! hurrah! 

All that mortals ever saw 
Of old country gladness conies back home to-day; 

Flowers and sunshine, s'hady trees, 

Laug^hing streams, and birds and boes 
All are smiling, beckoning, and calling us away. 



A SUMMER BLOSSOM. 

I saw a maiden stand — 
Deep hid in bloom were her bare feet 
While upward reached the blossoms sweet 

To kiss her dimpled hand. 

And standing there she smiled — 
So bright the dancing sunbeams played 
In radiant circles 'round the maid 

That she, this 'happy child, 

Seemed but a blossom grown 
A little taller and more fair 
Than any other blooming there, 

Brighter and fuller blown. 
72 



ALONGl THE AMBEAW RIVER. 

Here when the harebells blossom again! 

Here when the frosty old world grows young! 
Here when the snow is gone and when 

Out of the smiling sky is flung 
Sprinkles of stars all silvery white, 

Drippings of crystal like Nectar of old 
Brimming in cups made of splinters of light, 

Burnished rays beaten to vessels of gold! 

Here w'here the grasses are cool and sweet! 

More velvety far, this carpet of green. 
Softer and smocxther to restless bare feet 

Than any e'er trod on by dudhess or queen! 
Here where the shadows fall heavy and deep 

O'er paths that lead off into dreamlands of rest, 
Where the phantoms that haunt us themselves fall 
asleep 
Like an innocent babe on its fond mother's 
breast. 

72> 



74 Along the Ambraxv River 

Here where the ehns and the sycamores Hft 

Vainly their hands to readh up to the skies — 
Skies t'hait peep smiHngly down through tlie rift 

Where our fair river so peacefully lies! 
Ah, to just lie here and feel not a care! 

Hearts burdened not with a dull sense of woe, 
But light as the swallows that skim through the 
air 

Dipping to drink of the coolness below. 

Ambraw, fair Ambraw, flow gently along; 

Let the low laugh of thy wavelets at play 
Be the sweet undertones in the glad song 

That the earth sings to us all the long day! 
Trapsing and lisping its water move on. 

Smiling and dimpling far down to the sea, 
Down where the deep calls from dawn unto dawn. 

Calls as eternity calls you and me. 



MUNDANE AND ULTRAMUNDANE. 

Where does he Hve? In the boundless blue. 

He rides and revels amid the stars, 
And laughs as his charger das'hes through 

The sunHght's glitter of golden bars. 

He tunes his harp and his fingers keep 
The time, with the gay and glitt'ring throng 

Of circling orbs in their onward sweep, 
To the numbers grand of that endless song. 

He sits enrapt at the trembling strings, 

And a passing glance does he scarce bestow 

On our little round of earthly things 
And this fair, green planet here below. 

But here, as we stand 'neath the old orchard tree 

And feel the glad warmth of our bright sunny 

clime, 

We're as gay as the birdies above in their glee — 

And, Love — don't you see? — it is nesting-time. 

75 



A RUSTIC SKETCH. 

Just a quaint and homely picture of the days of 

long ago, 
When faces wrinkled, old and worn were bright 

with youth's warm glow — 
A picture of a maiden with a youngster by her 

side, 
Both conscious of the bashfulness that neither one 

can hide. 

Far of¥, the boisterous laughter of a noisy crowd 
drops low. 

Drops downward into silence as they slowly 
homeward go — 

As they walk slowly home from that old church- 
house on the hill. 

With nothing to distur<b them, for the world is 
hushed and still. 

Yes, everything is silent, save the cricket's pierc- 
ing sound 

And the music of the katydids heard everywhere 
around. 

For they always keep insisting till Fm tired, and 
I declare, 

I can sympathize with Katie for the blame she has 
to bear. 

76 



A Rustic Sketch 77 

And now this youth and maiden — shall we listen 

as they go 
So contented-like along the road and walking 

rather slow? 
Shall we listen while they talk about the weather 

and about 
Just when the corn will ripen and the wheat crop 

'be "put out?" 

And then they talk of other things, a neighbor- 
hood romance, 

A spelling-bee or singing-school ; and then right 
Ihere, perchance. 

The talking stops, for Sarah's curls, by autumn 
breezes fanned, 

Have thrilled him in a manner that no one can 
understand. 

The conversation now resumed has naught to do 

with crops; 
We can't tell what it is about, we only know it 

drops 
To nothing but a murmur soft and low as any 

breeze 
That ever crooned for lovers as it loafed among 

the trees. 



78 A Rustic Sketch 

Still on they wander 'neath the stars that peep 
from out the blue 

And wink at one another, just as they are wont 
to do 

When young folks thus surrender to Dame Na- 
ture's dearest arts 

With that old-fashioned, timid sort of gladness in 
their hearts. 

Then from the highway, by the path along the 

meadow's side, 
They near her father's dwelling as it seems to 

slyly hide 
Among the tall old locust trees, there patiently 

to await 
In ambush for the maiden when they reach the 

dooryard gate. 

But now we would ncrt watch lihem, even thoug'h it 

were allowed, 
The modest moon veils her fair face behind a 

fleecy cloud, 
And just peeps out in time to see John Henry as 

he goes 
From Sarah Jane, who's blushing just as red as 

any rose. 



TO AN OWL. 

I. 

Thine eyes are round and yellow as the moon 
That floats in majesty above the night — 

Fair, radiant orb, a golden mystic rune 

Writ in the heavens the which to read arig'ht, 
When twilight deepens, thou with noiseless 
flight 

Dost seek that old decaying bough. How wise 
Thou seemest, sitting there and of that light 

Drinking so deeply that thy sober eyes 

Are swelling with the radiance raining from the 
skies. 

11. 

What wisdom dost thou gather gazing there 

Hour after hour in contemplative mood? 
The heart's desires when breathed upon the air 
Are mingled with the voices of the wood ; 
But fateful breezes waft them back — tlie good 
We longed for changed to evil, changed as well 
The p'hantoms that we feared — ^till what we 
should 
Desire or loathe, diviner, canst thou tell? 
What charm canst thou disclose 'gainst Time's 
conjuring spell? 

79 



8o To an Owl 

III. 

But one sonorous, ghostly, weird "too-woo!" 
While grandly uttered comes a slow reply 

From some old scraggy, gnarled oak ; but who 
Can understand them? As the echoes die 
Away we ponder, ponder still and sigh 

That we must be so dull. If good or ill 

Lies just before, these eyes themselves must spy 

It, though wise owls may sit and stare until 

The nig^ht departs and daAvn beholds them bhnk- 
ing still. 



OUR SOWING. 

The traveler plucks the ripened seeds 

And casts diem idly on the air, 
While soft winds bear them gently down 

And they are gone, he knows not where. 

But though forgotten by the hand 
That cast them forth, they crowd the way — 

Rank, poisonous weeds and briars and thorns 
All mingled with the flowerets gay. 

Be noble thoughts and kindly acts 
Alone the seeds that we shall sow, 

And flowers of love on every side 
In sweet extravagance shall grow. 

And those who tread the selfsame paths 
That we have trod will thanks outpour 

From grateful hearts and ever bless 
The pilgrims who have gone before. 
8i 



TO THE BEOOK. 

Little dimpled, dancing pool, 
In thy depths the shadows play 

Like fair nymphs that lave in cool, 
Limpid streams, then hie away. 

Hie away to caves below 

When the gaze of am'rous eyes 

Wake in virgin breasts of snow 
Flutterings of strange surprise. 

Dance and dimple in the sun, 
Laugh and gleam in merry glee ; 

Long I gaze and yet not one 
True reflection can I see. 

And a wreath of brighter smiles 
Rimples o'er thy bonny face 

At those doubts thy roguish wiles 
Lead from out their lurking place. 
82 



To the Brook 83 

But when on thy mossy brink 

Down I kneel, how eagerly 
In my feverish thirst I drink 

Of thy sparkling purity ! 

Not a fabled drink of old, 

Nectar, Mead or Hippocrene, 
Served in brimming cups of gold 

Could compare with this, I ween. 

Ah, I know a maiden fair! — 

And the witchery that lies 
Mingled with the azure there 

Of her laug*hter-loving eyes! 

Laughing eyes — and yet how blind 

Are mine own that cannot see 
Through her dear deceits and find 

All those secrets hid from me. 



Yet one thing I can but know. 
That her heart is fond and true, 

Though her lips ne'er told me so, 
Save as lips will sometimes do. 



84 To the Brook 

Save as lips half-willingly 

Trembling yield and still protest — 
Yield, then smile with ecstasy 

In their sweetest way and best. 

Little brooklet, should we build 
On 'thy 'l^anks our little cot, 

When the day's glad notes are stilled 
Let thine own be silent not. 

But through all the starry night 
Laugh and sing, and Love and [ 

In our dreams shall thy delight 
Hear as some sweet lullaby. 



AS WE USED TO KNOW HIM. 

I'm thinking that Happiness takes for his friend 

The boy with the freckled face, 
With his elbows torn and his knees scrubbed out 

And a very conspicuous trace 
Of soot on his cheeks and dirt on his chin, 

While the locks of bis sandy hair 
Tassel out through the holes of his brin.'less hat. 

And his eyes bave a knowing stare. 

With poke-berry juice his fingers are s^tained 

In the manufacture of ink, 
While his pockets bulge out with a corpulent air, 

Too full for their contents to cHnk. 
His ankles are scratdhed by the briars and thorns 

As deep through the tangles he wades, 
Or loafs by the creek that lazily strolls 

In and out through the dark forest shades. 

He whistles a tune as wild as the trill 

Which the mocking-bird warbles in spring, 

Or still as a shadow, an angler he sits. 
Rigged out with a pin-hook and string. 
85 



86 As We Used to Know Him 

The leaves gently murmur and lig^htly the cork 
Bobs out on the waves beaming bright 

With the dance of the shadows and gleam of the 
sun 
As he patiently waits for a bite. 



AND SUCH IS LIFE. 

Silken sunshine soft and fine, 
Laughing lips, and eyes that shine 
Bright enough — and yet how coy ! — 
To entrap the winged boy. 

Pensive sighs and dreams of bliss, 
Plighted vows and lover's kiss, 
Whispered words and warm caress, 
And ecstatic foolishness. 

Orange blossoms, wedding bells, 
Crimson blushes, fond farewells. 
Mingled smiles with girlish tears. 
Buoyant hopes alloyed with fears. 

Wee sma' tots with outstretched hands, 
Clamorous in their demands 
For the wealth of care and love 
None but mother hearts can give. 

87 



88 And S7(ch Is Lije 

Busy hands in mild distress, 
Struggling with their lonesomeness- 
Still are heard at dusk and dawn 
Ghosts of voices that are gone. 

Hearts still warm, thou^gh aged now, 
Frosted 'hair, and wrinkled brow, 
Withered cheeks, and dim old eyes 
Gazing into Paradise. 



COPPERTOES. 

Little Coppertoes, the merry, 

Laughing, dimpled, dancing elf! 
In his dreams he knew no fairv 

Half so happy as himself. 
How he crowed with c'hildislh pleasure 

In 'his beaming face at +hosc 
Little boots we fondly treasure ! 

So we called him "Coppertoes." 

Never golden sunliglit gleaming 

From the gems of sparkling dew 
Brighter than the life-light beaming 

In his roguish eyes of blue. 
Sweet, the rill's low ripple after 

Gentle showers when swift it flows; 
Sweeter far, the merry laughter 

And the shout of Coppertoes. 

And the ringlets he is throwing 
Back are softer than the breeze 

As it fans his cheeks while blowing 
Showers of blossoms from the trees. 
89 



go Coffe7'toes 

Fond may be the warm caressing 
When tlie sunhght woos the rose; 

Fonder still, my own lips pressing 
Those warm lips of Coppertoes. 

Ah! thong^h now our tears are falling, 

Death 'but strengthens all our love; 
And we hear a faint voice calling 

To us from tjhat home above. 
So a sweet perfume of gladness. 

Now the summer south wind blows 
To us as we wait in sadness 

At the grave of Coppertoes. 

And our hearts look upward longing 

For the Father's welcome home 
With the white-ro'bed angels thronging 

'Round Finn when He bids us come. 
We know not the time of meeting, 

God, the Father, only knows. 
But we'll know the welcome greeting 

Of our angel, Coppertoes. 



I HEARD HER SING. 

I heard 'her sing — and saw as in a dream 

A tiny lakelet nestling 'mong the hills, 
And fairy eyes with laughter all agleam 

In search of perfumed sweets that spring 
distills ; 
And as low ripples and the fitful dip 

Of oars came idly on the evening breeze, 
Two lovers, lost in their companionship, 

Rowed silent 'neath the overiianging trees. 

I heard her sing — and saw a face aglow 

With all the warmth and tenderness and love 
Of motherhood ; and crooning soft and low 

Her lullaby, the mother bent above 
Her sleeping "babe and gazed with eyes that 
seemed 

To see beyond that downy nest, far out 
Along the pathway where the sunlight gleamed 

Or night's dark shadows gloomed the way with 
doubt. 

91 



92 1 Heard Her Sincr 



i^ 



Again she sang — and then an aged pair 

Serenely smiled and looked toward the west 
Where eve's low sinking sun their silver hair 

Sought to adorn (ere they s'hould seek their 
rest ) 
With Time's old tlieft, the old-time wealth of gold. 

So waited they the sunset, rest, and then 
The waking, for with earthly things grown old, 

Life's glad new morn should make them young 
again. 



BACKWARD LOOK. 

Come, let us take a walk down through the ages, 
Down amid the tombs where the buried nations 
lie; 
Turn History's tattered leaves and read the moldy 
pages 
While Clio sadly chants a dirge that closes with 
a sigh. 

Where is all their grandeur, all their pride, pomp, 
and glory? 
Search amid the ruins of the cities passed away; 
Here and there a monument remains to teli the 
istory 
Of a nation's boasted wealth now moldering in 
decay. 

Boast not, haug^hty nations, lest Time your pride 
should humble. 
For loud has Nature spoken with a fiery tongue 
of flame : 

93 



94 



Backward Look 



''All that feeble man shall build, back to dust shall 
crumble, 
And only leave for coming years remembrance 
of a name." 

Come, let us wander back; cease your merry 
laughter, 
As we tread the mold above the places where 
they sleep, 
And gaze upon the tombs that to nations coming 
after 
Whisper of the harvest that t^he angel. Death, 
shall reap. 



A FANTASY 

Softly the twilight glows 

Fade into night's repose, 
And in a wonderland of dreams 
I wander where low laugh of streams 

So musically flows, 

Where limpid waters play. 

Then splash and dash away, 
And wander onward, moving slow 
In discontent and murmuring low 

Because they cannot stay. 

A tropic forest wide 

Spreads out on every side; 
And waving palm and tangled vine 
So thickly weave and intertwine 

That I can scarce divide 

The tangled mass of green 

That, like a glitt'ring screen. 
Would bar my fancy's pathway through 
That fairy-land and hide from view 

The flowers that intervene. 
95 



96 A Fantasy 

Those flowers so fresh and bright 

That open to the Hght 
That in its deep intensity 
Pours through the leafy canopy, 

They burst upon my sight 

Like holocausts ablaze ^ 

With all the mingled rays 
Of sofestest shades and brig^htest glows, 
The lily and the blood-red rose 

In one fantastic maze! 

I hear the awful roar 

Of thunder-storms that pour 
Their torrents down — a blinding flash, 
A moment's stillness, then a crash, 

Then heavier than before 

The tempest's rage; at last 

The mighty storm is past; 
And as the dripping clouds roll by, 
High arching in the vaulted sky, 

God's promise is o'ercast. 

A hermit lone has strayed 

Into the forest shade; 
And in these awful solitudes 
Of murmuring brooks and sighing woodi 



A F'antasy 97 

His quiet home has made. 

A quaint fantastic bower 

That in some dreamy hour 
His fancy taught his hands to twine 
From Hving branch and growing vine 

And bright and fragrant flower. 

Did he in sorrow's tear 

See visions restful here? 
Or was it deep ecstatic bHss, 
Those first sweet joys of Psyche's kiss, 

That led his footsteps near, 

Till on his wond'ring sight 

Burst forth the splendors bright 
Of this fair land, so that no more 
He sought the haunts he knew before 

Far from this realm of lig'ht. 

Where'er his wand'ring feet 

Might lead, he found some sweet 
Surprise; from every leafy tree 
Rained showers of sweetest melody; 

And in 'his quaint retreat, 

When darkness gathered 'round 

And on the leaf-strewn ground 
Where wooed to sleep by opiate flowers 



A Pantasy 

He lay, he heard in dreamy hours 
Confused bursts of sound. 

Strange melodies were sung, 

And fairy minstrels flung 
From trembling chords strains far more light 
Than any earth-born minstrel might; 

Yet still he heard among 

Sweet sounds a harsher glee, 

A boisterous revelry 
That might have poured from demon throats 
To drown that ecstasy of notes 

So airy, light and free. 

He seemed to trembling stand 

Upon the border-land 
Dividing earth and spirit realm; 
While sight and sound might overwhelm 
Him, yet not e'en his hand 

Could reach across and hold 

His friend's nor feel the cold 
And clammy, deathly demon's grasp 
That soon should change to fiery clasp, 

Should him their arms enfold. 

No longer stands he there; 
A spirit form, as fair 



A Pantasv 

As ever dwelt in Paradise 

Or floated through the star-lit skies 

On silver clouds in rare, 

Soft draperies of light, 

With hand of snowy white 
That ever pointing on before 
His faltering footsteps leads till o'er 

His pathway hangs no night. 

For nig^ht's dark, sullen gloom 

Before an empty tomb 
Has vanis'hed as the morning light 
Into his bower breaks on his sig^ht, 

And into rosy bloom 

Burst forth the living walls; 

While soft and amorous calls 
Unto its mate a piper sings. 
And as through dewy boughs it swings 

A crystal shower falls. 

Now as the days flew by. 

Naught cared he but to lie 
In dreams, for only then was he 
That fairy form allowed to see. 

That spirit whom no eye 

Of flesh could e'er behold; 



99 



lOO A Fantasy. 

And as ithe buds unfold, 
Wooed by the sun's warm, shimmering beams, 
So his own spirit in his dreams 

Grew confident and bold. 

Alas, what child of dust, 

Though weak yet prone to trust 
To his own choice of good or ill, 
But thinks that all against his will 

Is aught but right and just. 

How sadly now doth 'he 

Obey the stern decree 
That till long years shall pass away 
He yet must wait, till from the clay 

His spirit is made free. 

The years flit swiftly by, 

Till age bedims his eye. 
Till feeble, faltering is his tread 
And hoary locks adorn his head ; 

And oft a weary sig'h 

He breathes; but hope grows bright, 

That form upon his sight 
Appears whose sweet enchantment brings 
The soul's release of fettered wings 

Plumed for celestial flig^ht. 



A F'antasy loi 



And softly now s'he said, 
"Lift up thy feeble head, 
And as thy gaze is turned aloft, 
Around a mystic circle oft 

You sweep with tott'ring tread.' 
He now the ghostly play 
Begins without delay; 
He faster moves, he lighter grows. 
Burst on his sig^ht etihereal glows. 
His spirit floats away. 



THE FOUNDING OF A KINGDOM. 

A man and a maiden ambitious became 

And sighed, as 'they looked into each other's 
eyes, 
For a kingdom where they s'hould win honor and 
fame 
By a poHcy deemed most exceedingly wise. 

So, often together in council t^ey met; 

And many land weighty their words, till at last 
They would wake with a start and a conscious 
regret 
That as fleet-winged moments the hours had 
flown past. 

Their plans at last finished, a palace diey reared — 
A palace of rather diminutive size. 

But large enough plenty for them, it appeared. 
As up from their kingdom it smiled at the skies. 

Then, happy together, they sat on the throne. 
These sovereigns, the subjects of each other's 
sway; 
And soon from their revenues wealthy were 
grown, 
Ten talents in kisses paid three times a day. 

loa 



DOWNWARD FLOATING. 

Adown the stream our little boat 
Glides with the gentlest motion, 

And bears us smoothly onward to 
Eternity's broad ocean. 

O'er dreamy depths and pebbly shoals, 
Where shadows lightly playing 

Trip hand in hand above the sand 
With truant sunbeams straying. 

In sheltered cove where every vine 
O'erhanging, like the smiling 

Narcissus, sips from shadowy lips 
The kiss that's so beguiHng. 

And as in dimphng depths we gaze 
To watch the wavelets dancing, 

Bringht elfish eyes in merry guise 
Are upward at us glancing. 

10^ 



104 Dozvnzvard JRloating 

Then on and on, with many a crook 
And curve, our course is bending, 

Borne on the tide grown deep and wide. 
With Hghts and shadows blending. 

Till deeper now the shadows grow, 
And dark the night is falling, 

While clouds that rise to veil the skies 
Grow ominous and appalling. 

With sudden fear our hearts beat wild 
As louder rolls the thunder — 

A bhnding flash ! A deafening crash 
Of heavens rent asunder! 

But through the gloom the first faint blush, 

The eastern skies adorning, 
Glov/s warm with light till darkest night 

Has melted into morning. 

O glorious light! and golden floods 
Of sunshine 'round us falling! 

While just before, we hear the roar 
Of breakers seaward calling. 



AT LITTLE MARY'S GRAVE. 

I stand beside this little mound that's covered 

o'er with green, 
Then backward through the long dim aisles of 

years that intervene 
Between the long ago and now I wander till my 

eyes 
Are gladdened by the beauty of my boyhood's 

azure skies. 

And oh! the joys, the raptures that the boyish 

heart can feel ! 
E'en as I fondly hasten back sweet strains of 

music steal 
From out that region far away till this old heart 

of mine 
Is throbbing to the measure of a melody divine. 

Then, too, I see bright angel faces peep from out 
the skies; 

Iheir snowy ro»bes they've laid aside and put on 
human guise, 

And with their boisterous laughter and their 
merry childish glee 

Trip gaily out along the path I tread to wel- 
come me. 

105 



io6 At Little Mary'^s Grave 

No heartier welcome have I met since years and 

years ago, 
When these old friends drew 'round me with their 

faces all aglow 
With warmest friendship, and I clasp each 

chubby, dimpled hand 
With eagerness that only old-time fr-ends can 

understand. 

One timid hand I hold and gaze within a face as 

brig^ht 
As ever shone with sunshine while the others fade 

from sight, 
And as of old we wander through the green old 

forest shade, 
Where flowers smiled at squirrels that peeped at 

us half afraid. 

Then out beneath the great blue vault we watched 

the clouds roll by, 
And child-like wondered where they went and 

why they soared so high. 
And if the winged fairies ever left their forest 

home 
To flit aloft among the clouds and bathe within 

their foam. 



A^ Little Mary'^s Grave 107 

And then for happy hours we watched the busy 

bees that rolled 
In beds of pollen till their coats were dusted o'er 

with gold, 
Then laden with their treasure, flew across the 

fields for home 
To rest awhile within the hive and buzz around 

the comb. 

There are no friendships like the old when we 
were young and free 

From selfishness and pride and cant and vain 
hypocrisy, 

When in our innocence we loved just as the sky- 
lark wings 

At early morn its heavenward flight, and sings 
because it sings. 

The sunshine ne'er has been so brig^ht, the bird's 
song ne'er so gay, 

The rose's breath not half so sweet since that long- 
vanished day, 

Wlhen 'mid the clover-bloom we played or by the 
winding stream 

That with its old glad music babbles onward in 
my dream. 



MIDNIGHT LONGINCtS FOR THE MOEROW. 

I. . 

To-morrow's sun will giid anew the earth 

That's cankered into loathed ugliness ; 
From poisonous mold will give new beatuies birth, 

And frighten these gray mists till fleet they 
press 

With ghostly feet the hills that in distress 
They hasten o'er; will kindle into flame 

The stagnant waters ; with its warm caress 
Bring to the modest morn a blush of shame, 
And to each burdened heart a meed of joy pro- 
claim. 

II. 

Oh hasten, winds of morning, and away ! 

These feet s'hall follow wifh as swift a pace 
As their scant strength will warrant; this dark day 
Has wearied them, but they shall find new 

grace 
To bear me up, and I will keep my face 
io8 



Midnight Longings for the Morrow 109 

Turned toward the dawn where ye are tending. 
Speed: 
Full soon the somber shadows will give place 
To fair Aurora; then, a trembling reed 
No more I'll stand, but follow where thy swift 
wings lead. 



THE AMISH MAIDEN. 

She is such a dainty maiden, 

With 'her tenderest grace and charms 
Rich with gold her hair is laden; 

Pure and white, her dimpled arms. 

Pure and fair, with just the faintest 
Little hint of summer tan; 

And her bonnet of the quaintest, 
Queerest architect'ral plan. 

Queerest bonnet e'er a fairy 
Milliner with thoughtful mien 

Deftly fashioned for an airy, 

Happy, modest, earth-born queen. 

And her eyes, the clearest, bluest, 
Deepest eyes that ever shone. 

Shyly told the sweetest, truest 
Tale in answer to my own. 
no 



The Amish Maiden 

Dote, ye snobs of wealth and fashion, 
On fair forms of gaudy show. 

In whose breasts the warmest passion 
Cannot melt the frost and snow. 

But for me I'll choose the bonny 

Lassie in her sober gray, 
With a heart as warm and sunny 

As the balmiest of May. 

And where beauty fast encloses 
Our wee cot with sheltering care 

In a labyrinth of roses, 
We will snugly nestle there. 

There, to live and love while passes 
Year on year with hurried pace, 

Till at last the low, sweet grasses 
Bend above our resting place. 



Ill 



JUST LET ME REST. 

Just let me rest! These weary feet 
Have borne me through the sultry heat 

Of noontide on my way 
From far ofif scenes where breezes blow 
O'er meadow-lands of long ago 

Perfumes of sunny May. 

Far back I see that pathway swerve 
From right to Teft, then crook and curve 

Through shine and woodland g^loom, 
Then, stretching outward, swerve again 
A winding pathway o'er the plain 

Where wayside roses bloom. 

Then onward, upward, winding still, 
It climbs Life's rough and rugged hill 

Until it ends at last 
Where now in hope I stand before 
This grave while fondly musing o'er 

The mile-stones I have passed. 

112 



Just Let Ale Rest 113 

Then weary, footsore, let me rest! 
May I, as 'gainst its mother's breast 

The babe lies dreamily 
In lazy drowse of cradle tunes, 
Here rest, While dear old Nature croons 

A low, sweet lullaby. 



WOODS OF YOUTH. 

These prairies wide may proudly boast 

Of all their fields of golden grain 
And herds of cattle, smooth and sleek, 

That idly graze upon the plain. 
And waving meadows yielding up 

Their royal offerings of perfume, 
And mingling with the rose's breath 

The sweetness of the clover bloom. 

Yes, they may 'bloom like gardens fair, 

And offer up their wealth untold. 
Reward the weary farmer's toil 

And fill his ample purse with gold ; 
But those dehg-hts which quick uncork 

The barefoot urchin's bottled glee 
Are found in woods and laughing streams 

Where wanton Nature revels free. 

Oh, woods in spring! Thy waving boughs 

And singing birds and smiling flowers 
Now seem to call and beckon me 

To walk in thine enchanted bowers. 
What boy is there w^hose heart would not 

At such a summons faster beat; 
Or What could lend him more of joy. 

Or meet response with readier feet? 
114 



Woods of Youth 115 

And as I walk within thy shades, 

The feathered pipers in the trees, 
As pleased to have one auditor. 

Awake their sweetest melodies. 
In tuneful rivalry they pipe; 

The air is laden with their glee. 
The grandest of all orchestras 

A concert holding just for me. 

The dainty harebell at my feet 

Is smiling in her rdbe of blue. 
And buttercups and daisies white 

From out the grass creep into view. 
The pouting violet hangs her head 

And o'er her rivaled beauty grieves. 
While at the folly which she shows 

I hear the laughter of the leaves. 

The grand old oaks stand proudly up 

As kings of all the lordly trees. 
As chiefs who marshalled hosts command 

And wave their banners in the breeze ; 
Yet battle's din and martial strife 

Awake no echoes in these shades, 
For Heaven's truce is over all 

These s'hadowy vales and sunny glades. 



1 1 6 Woods of Touth 

In deeper shades I fhread my way 

Wherein a sunbeam scarce can fall; 
Here silence reigns, for cheerful sounds 

Of Hfe are hushed and silent all. 
Like some cathedral old, it seems, 

With cool damp walls of crumbling stone- 
Walls whose somber gray is greened 

With ivy and with moss o'ergrown. 

And 'here with bov/ed, uncovered head, 

Like some devoted monk I stand. 
Comparing with this earthly gloom 

The beauty of the shining strand; 
While soft and low and far away. 

Like floating murmurs from the main, 
The wak'ning echoes and the wind 

Unite in one harmonious strain. 

Oh ! should I wander far away 

Where Fortune leads or Duty calls — 
Where'er it be my lot to dwell, 

In lowly cot or palace halls — 
Whate'er the future brings to me 

Of happiness or toil and care, 
I'll wander through the Woods of Youth 

In fancy breathing perfumes rare. 



THE SAME OLD SONO. 

(Reunion Poem.) 

Once again the same old story ! 

Same old tune and same old song! 
With our hearts brim full of glory, 

Let the old world jog along! 

What care we how fast or slowly 

II moves on in that old way, 
When a pure and calm and holy 

Joy falls over us to-day? 

Shake, old Friends — we stand enraptured, 

Smiling as in days of yore, 
Just to think t^he past has captured 

Us and led us home once more ! 

Led us home, the song of gladness 
In our hearts made sweeter still 

By that undertone of sadness 
Woven in with nicest skill ! 
117 



Ii8 The Same Old Song 

Chant the mystic numbers clearer, 
Silvery sweet, then faint and low ; 

No new song can e'er be dearer 
Than the one of long ago. 

And we'll ever, in the coming 
Years that carry us along, 

Find the same delight in humming 
This old tune to t'his old song. 



FAREWELL. 

Farewell, dear friend, for tlioii art going now; 

That rhythmic beat grows fainter all the while; 
Dark, purple pencilings trace thy pure, white 
brow ; 

And those warm lips grow rigid with a smile. 

Farewell ! The wasted hand that now I hold 
Grows chill, and in those eyes that once were 
briglit 

With radiant life and passion I behold 

A gathering mist that darkens into night. 

Farewell ! We cannot cross the stormy tide 
With thee; and though thy lot we fain would 
share, 

And follow to the chill, cold river side, 

Thou dost escape and leave us standing here. 

Farewell ! For thou art gone, and this cold clay 
Lies dreamless dust, though hallowed by thy 
name. 
And back to mother earth we bear away 
The ashes of that deathless spirit-flame. 
119 



ATLANTIS. 

''Then we 
Unfurled the silken sails, and from the shore, 
Before the soft sea-breezes, sped amain." 

— The Voyage. 

Fare ithee well, lone isle of beauty, fanned by sum- 
mer's softest breeze, 

Foilded in the warm embraces of the love-encir- 
cling seas, 

Bathed in sunshine, draped in sOiadows, kissed 
and fondled and caressed. 

Smiling as you nestle there in velvet robes of 
verdure dressed! 

Every wimpling burn is laughing, every sparkling 

brooklet sings; 
And from all thy wooded valleys sweetest, clearest 

music rings — 
Aye, from e'en thy highest hill-top downward to 

the surging sea — 
Everywhere, the notes of gladness woven into 

melody ! 

120 



Atlantis 121 

Fare thee well, and with thy gladness let not one 

sad note appear ! 
Though our hearts are filled with sadness — we 

who fain would linger here, 
From this happy isle must wander — ^softly breathe 

thy song and low, 
Lower still yet ever gladsome ! Seaward now the 

breezes blow ! 

Gently now our bark is tossing \Vhile upon the 

deck I stand, 
Gazing out along thy curving, shell-strewn marge 

of silver sand ; 
And I listen to the washing of the waves that ebb 

and swell — 
Ebbing, sweUing, laving, lasping o'er and o'er 

again, "Farewell!" 

Ruthless sails ! — 'that bear us onward as we back- 
ward look and lean ; 

While the blue expanse of ocean broad and 
broader grows between 

This irail bark and that fair island, as 'neath some 
magician's spell. 

Sweetly there it smiles w'hile every palmleaf waves 
a fond farewell ! 



122 Atlantis 

Fare thee well, lone isle of beauty ! And the odors 

thickly sown 
On the breeze that bears us homeward seem the 

answer outward blown 
L'rom that happy island that far in the distance 

seems to be 
A fair em'rald dimly sparkling on the bosom of 

the sea! 



OLB-HOME EEST. 

Like the low, contented buzzing 
Of the bees around the comb, 

Grew the laughter of the dozing, 
Drowsy, sleepy boys at home. 

Sweet that evening rest, when busy 

Feet that pattered all the day 
Ceased their running, and the dizzy 

Heads drooped low and swooned away- 
Swooned away in dreams all rosy. 

As in bed, with fond caress, 
Mother placed us warm and cozy 

Praying God to guard and bless. 

May the All-kind Mother hold us 
In sweet dreams upon her breast. 

And within our low couch fold us, 
When we're tired and long for rest. 
123 



TO THE AMBRAW. 

Gentle river, glide forever 

Onward to the sea, 
With thy dancing wavelets glancing 

Back their smiles at me! 

Glancing, gleaming, dancing — dreaming 

Now in sheltered pool, 
There beguiling us and smiling 

Up so clear and cool ! 

Softly flowing, scarcely going. 

All so still, it seems, — 
Save some dashing minnow flashing 

Forth those fitful gleams. 

Dashing, darting, stopping, starting — 

See him! there he glides, 
With the streaming sunlight gleaming 

From his silver sides! 
124 



To the Ambrazv 125 

Like some sleeping infant peeping 

Up with dreaming eyes 
Through its lashes, are those flashes 

From the mirrored 'skies. 



Now it, waking, thinks while breaking 

Lig^htly into smiles, 
"I^ through ferny banks, must journey 

On so many miles !" 

So it hurries on, yet worries 
Not though stopped so long, 

But in trebles o'er the pebbles 
Breaks in happy song. 

Wond'rous story of His glory. 

When from Sinai's crown, 
In the olden days the golden 

Light of God shone down ! 

But from glowing skies o'erflowing 

Now His splendor pours 
Deeply over all the river's 

Reach of sycamores ! 



126 To the Ainbraw 

How much sadness changed for gladness 

Who could dare to say, 
Could we capture all the rapture 

Loose along Hhy way ? 

Ah ! 'tis pleasure's fullest measure — 

Here with cork-and-llne ! 
See it bobbing like the throbbing 

Of this heart of mine ! 

Till to dullness, in joy's fullness, 

All my senses steep — 
Tired of fishing, now I'm wishing 

I might fall asleep. 

Here to linger while Time's finger, 

Deaf to hopes and fears. 
Slowly numbers all my slumber's 

Changeless round of years. 

Green, the cover folded over 

Me so carefully ; 
While the river glides forever 

Onward to the sea. 



To the Ambraw 127 

Curving, bending, winding, wending 

Leisurely its way ; 
Slyly hiding, gleaming, gliding 

Onward night and day ! 

From far meadows, pied with sihadows 

Where the willows nod, 
Glide forever, gentle river, 

'Neath the smile of God! 



NEW YEAR'S EVE. 

Father Time goes hobbling on 
In his old accustomed way, 

As for ages he has gone, 
Never resting night or day. 

On and on through weary miles 

He's been tramping all these years, 

Peddling out his stock of smiles 
And a full supply of tears. 

Mingled smiles and tears we find 

Dealt to us along the way ; 
See he turns and looks behind 

At the mile-stone passed to-day. 

One more year — 'tis finished; we 
Cannot change it; let it rest; 

What's the odds to you and me 
If we each have done our best? 
128 



New Teai^'^s Eve 129 

So to-night we cast aside 

Every vagrant sense of care; 
Vain regrets can ne'er abide 

In the heart when joy is there. 

Vain regrets, the ghostly throng, 

Suddenly are puft to flight. 
While the airy hosts of song 

Fill our hearts with joy to-night. 

Ring, ye merry bells, your chimes; 

Blow, ye sky-born bugles, blow ; 
Not a sigh for happier times 

These glad hearts of our 'shall know ! 

Pause one moment; not so loud; 

Mask your joy with deepest gloom 
While the old year in 'his shroud 

Slowly sinks into the tomb. 

Now 'tis over, laugh and sing. 

Brush away each feigned tear; 
Blow, ye bugles; wild bells, ring; 

Hail with joy the glad New Year! 



A LOVER'S HALF-HOUE. 

No, a lover's half-hour has no definite length; 

'Tisn't measured as men measure distance or 
space — 
With exactness that offers no room for a doubt — 

But varies with circumstances, person, or place. 

To the one who is waiting the lover's return 
And grows not impatient nor rails at his friend, 

All hail, patient hero, the palm thou hast won 
Ere the lover's half-hour is brought to an end. 

To the one who is gazing in soft tender eyes 
And reads there a gladness no words can ex- 
press. 

It can be but a moment thoug^h long he has stayed 
And grieves at departing — delightful distress. 

To the fair blushing owner of those tender eyes 
Whose heart beats the time to his vanishing 
feet, 
It is equally short, that delightful half-hour. 
And she longs for the time when again they 
may meet. 

130 



A MORNING EAMBLE. 

Blow, breeze from the sunny Southland, blow ! 
These gentle slopes, arrayed in robes of brown 
But brightening into smiles, again arise 
To greet thee as thy steps, by blue-bird's song 
First heralded, so eagerly draw near. 
Aye, speed thee, for in simple beauty here 
Thy mistress waits thy coming and tliose sweet 
Endearments that alone thy soft arms know. 

And like fond lovers p'arted long, tlhey close 
In warm embrace. The first glad rapture lulls 
To joyous flutterings, and sweet caress 
To gentle dalliance, and soft words cease; 
And 'hills and south wind in a trance of joy 
Renew again their yearly pledge of love. 
And over all the earth a gladness steals — 
A mingling of sweet sounds and chattered mirth ; 
The twitter of the swallows as they skim 
Along the meadow, dipping earthward in 
Their fliglht ; the plaintive coo of doves ; the bleat 
Of lambs that cease their gamboHng to call, 
Then listen till they hear the answering bleat 
131 



132 A Moi-ning Ramble 

Where o'er the ridge the mellow tinkk tells 
Of quiet feeding on the fres^h-grown grass. 

Between these hills that lie Hke giant kine 

Serenely in the sun, the little stream 

Glides merrily along and smiles at us 

With many a merry twinkle as it darts 

Into a covert of low rushes, dry 

And sere, to once again emerge and gleam 

Wilih hope that we may catch its playful mood 

And follow for its gay companionsfhip. 

So let us follow as it crooks and bends 

In graceful curves among the hills ; give ear 

To ali its babble, all its c'hildish mirt'h, 

Its simple wisdom as it rus'he-s on 

So merrily to meet eadh duty th'at 

Lies just before it, lingering not to find 

A more convenient season, thus to lie 

All silently in shallow, stagnant pools. 

Each tiny cataract pours crystal pure, 

Like joy from hearts untainted 'by the spring's 

Of selfishness. Each limpid pool runs o'er 

With its low ripple "of delight; and wreathes . 

Of smi'les spread o'er it as some songster dips 

And drinks its coolness, pausing yet to bathe 

With twitter, chirp, and constant fiutterings. 



A Morning Rainble 133 

Then on we hasten and the little stream 
Grows larger. Under budding hawthorns, we 
Behold the yet unfinished handiwork 
Of redbreast-builders. On and onward still, 
Where osiers crowd the ooze, and then 
Where larger willows lean with tender grace. 
Where bristling locusts s'tand forbiddingly. 
By kingly cottonwoods, swerving around 
Some grove, still journeying toward the river, till 
At last we wander throug^h the gloomy shades 
Of these old forest trees that proudly stand, 
Huge giants in their solemn majesty. 
Through all t^hese woods what awful stillneiss 

reigns, 
Now rudely broken by rebellious caws — 
A sudden splash and ripple, and away 
The blue king-fis'her darts ; there in the sun 
The wood-grouse idly drums with muffled beat 
Upon the log; and Silence breathes o'er all 
Her opiate breath until her subjects, steeped 
In drowsiness, dare not dispute her sway. 
O'h, that glad sense of sweet repose that steals 
Into our hearts While nestling here upon 
This veivet coudh ! No wage of war between 
Contending passions, for the boldest imp 
Of evil 'hastens tremblingly away 



134 ^ Moi'fihig J^amhle 

Nor dares disturb God's peace divine within 
His temple reared among t^hese holy hills! 
Rise, incense, from the swinging censers lit 
By heavenly fires; and, sacred flames, leap up 
From altars all a'blaze with love's warm glow; 
While all around us shines the beauty and 
The glory that is but the siiiile of God ! 

And now 'hushed voices wake and faintly call 

And pour dieir pipings low and sweet upon 

The Whispering wind — sudh gentle gaiety. 

Such merriment as makes no discord with 

Devotion. Laughing lightly as an elf 

At play, a streamlet, dancing in the sun, 

Now answers back the merry music of 

A gurgling fount that gave the streamlet birth. 

How sweet it is, like schoolboys once again. 

To kneel where oft the timid fawn has scared 

At its own image staring from the clear. 

Cool depths While louder laug*hed the streamlet as 

It ran. Through long, long years the crystal 

wealth 
Has poured, and danced and glimmered as it 

poured. 
From secret haunts, ail forms of woodland life 
Have crept and slaked their thirst and tlien forgot 



A Morning Ramble 135 

Their fear to frisk and gambol in the sun ; 

While oft the swarthy savage, hideous 

With paint, has quafTed, then mused a moment 

here. 
And for the time forgot his eager thirst 
For war. But here are evidences of 
More recent frequentings. The twang of bow. 
The stealthy step no more is heard since sounds 
Of axes woke the echoes 'mong these hills. 
And looking close, we find decaying bits 
Of ancient curbing, while the 'hilliside s'hows 
A tiny valley, thickly sodded o'er, 
Yet plainly marking the once beaten path 
That hither led. Up that same pathway and 
Beyond, we find a few slight rehcs of 
A cabin that has crumbled into dust. 
Reclining on the hillock where once stood 
The huge old chimney, a deep 'haze falls 'round 
Us; shapes and shadows flit on every side — 
The joys and sorrows in confusion blent 
Of hum'ble frontier life, till Fancy takes 
The maze of tangled threads and< weaves to her 
Own liking the frail texture of romance. 



AS BLOOM THE FLO WEES. 

The flowerets by the wayside bloom 
Unconscious of the Fa^tiher's care ; 

And, leeward blown, their s^^eet perfume 
Is wafted on the summer air. 

Content to bloom where'er they may, 
They make fhe hum'blest byways glad 

Wit^h their own smiles, so bright and gay, 
Till hearts grow lig^ht that once were sad. 

In Whatso'er secluded place 

Or ihumble nook may we abide, 
Let's with glad hearts and smiling face 

Strew joy about on every side. 
136 



